This invention relates generally to improvements in slide-fit nuts of the type adapted for rapid axial push-on mounting onto a threaded bolt or the like. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved slide-fit nut designed for bidirectional axial sliding movement with respect to an associated threaded bolt, thereby permitting rapid push-on mounting and rapid pull-off removal of the nut.
Slide-fit nuts, sometimes referred to as jam nuts, are generally known in the art for rapid push-on mounting onto a threaded bolt, stud or similar threaded structure, wherein the nut is installed onto the bolt to a seated or nearly seated position with little or no rotational motion. Such slide-fit nuts are typically constructed to include a plurality of part-cylindrical, longitudinally separated nut segments which are mounted in a cylindrical array within an outer nut casing or housing. The nut segments are internally threaded to collectively define a spiral female thread for engaging a mating thread on an associated bolt. One or more springs are wrapped about the nut segments to apply a radially inward force urging the nut segments into normal threaded engagement with the bolt. However, cam surfaces acting between the outer nut casing and the inner nut segments permit the nut segments to displace radially outwardly when the nut is pushed in one axial direction over the associated bolt. Accordingly, the slide-fit nut can be displaced rapidly over the axial length of the bolt, with a non-rotational push-on action, to a seated position in axial abutment with a substrate. If further tightening of the nut is desired, a small amount of nut rotation can be accomplished by engaging the nut casing with a wrench or the like. For an example of a push-on nut of this general type, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,187.
While push-on nuts beneficially permit rapid nut mounting without requiring substantial nut rotation over the protruding free length of a bolt, such nuts available in the art have not permitted a similarly rapid pull-off removal from the bolt when disassembly is desired. Instead, it has been necessary to back-rotate the nut from the seated position, with such back-rotation continuing for the entire free length of the bolt until the nut is removed. In some applications, this requirement for rotational nut displacement for removal purposes can be undesirably time consuming and tedious.
There exists, therefore, a significant need for an improved slide-fit nut which can be mounted onto a bolt quickly and easily with a simple push-on action, and which is also adapted for rapid removal from the bolt with a simple pull-off action. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.